Light is everywhere in our world. We need it to see: it carries information
from the world to our eyes and brains. Seeing colors and shapes is second
nature to us, yet light is a perplexing phenomenon when we study it more
closely.

Here are some things to think about:

Our brains and eyes act together to make extraordinary things
happen in perception. Movies are sequences of still pictures. Magazine
pictures are arrays of dots.

Light acts like particleslittle light bulletsthat stream
from the source. This explains how shadows work.

Light also
acts like wavesripples in spaceinstead of bullets. This
explains how rainbows work. In fact, light is both. This
"wave-particle duality" is one of the most confusingand
wonderfulprinciples of physics.

Scientists have spent lifetimes developing consistent physical,
biological, chemical, and mathematical explanations for these
principles. But we can start on the road to deeper understanding
without all the equations by acting as scientists do: making observations,
performing experiments, and testing our conjectures against what we see.

The activities in this lab are designed to give you ideas about
lightand also about how you can use technology to explore light.
Collectively, the activities are a samplerrather than
comprehensive demonstrationof these two topics:

Light in Color. Color is more than decoration, and perceiving color is
tricky. Three activities help you see how colors interact and how we can use
color as a scientific tool.

Laws of Light. Light
behaves according to special rules; for example, it usually
travels in a straight line and it bounces off mirrors at
the same angle it hits them.

In this lab, you will work with simulations to see things more quickly and
conveniently. This has merit, but it's no substitute for the
real thing. So, wherever possible, follow the links to hands-on
activities. You will find many of these explanations in
their original form at the Exploratorium.